Lucky Seven: Peyton Manning had a night for the ages to open the season.

After seven long months of OTA’s and talking about Tim Tebow, football returned this Thursday under the lights in Denver, Colorado. And this time the lights stayed on for the whole game. The season got started with one of the best players of this generation reminding us all that he can still get it done, included a first for a veteran wide receiver, the extension of a couple of Opening Day streaks, one milestone coaching victory and a first for a Lions‘ player since the days of Barry Sanders. Here are all the important notes, interesting accomplishments and head-scratching statistics from Week 1 of the brand new season.

Peyton Manning tied the all-time single-game record with seven touchdown passes in the Broncos‘ 49-27 win over the defending champion Ravens Thursday night. He became the first quarterback to throw seven TD passes in a game since Joe Kapp in 1969. It was the 74th time in his career he has thrown three or more touchdown passes in a game – the most all-time. Denver’s 22-point win was the largest ever opening-week win by a team against a defending Super Bowl champ.

The Falcons lost their first ever season opener against the Saints as they fell, 23-17, after blowing a 10-0 first-quarter lead. Atlanta had been 6-0 all-time against New Orleans to open the season. In the loss, however, Tony Gonzalez became just the third player to record a touchdown catch in 17 different seasons, joining Jerry Rice (19) and Irving Fryar, who also did it 17 times.

With two against the Bills, Tom Brady has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in 49 consecutive games for the Patriots - five shy of tying Drew Brees for the all-time record. He also improved to 21-2 in his career against Buffalo. New England won its 10th straight opener and they forced at least one turnover in their 28th straight game.

The Bucs fell to 0-7 all-time in road games against the Jets as New York pulled out the 18-17 win on a last-second field goal. Tampa committed 13 penalties in the game, leading to five New York first downs and helped put them in position to kick the game-winning field goal. Rookie Geno Smith helped lead the Jets with a 76.0 QBR in the fourth quarter.

Marc Trestman joined Chip Kelly and Andy Reid in winning their debuts with new teams.

Seattle and Carolina combined for just 19 points in the Seahawks‘ 12-7 win. Cam Newton put up career lows in total yards (163) and passing yards (125) for the Panthers in the loss. Russell Wilson threw for 320 yards, despite managing just the 12 points and it was the first 300-yard game of his career.

Ben Roethlisberger threw for just 191 yards as the Steelers mustered just nine points and fell to the Titans, 16-9. It was the fifth time since 2011 that Big Ben threw for less than 200 yards in a game. Though this was Pittsburgh’s first loss in a home opener since 2002, Roethlisberger did go over the career 30,000-yard passing mark on the day. Pittsburgh got on the board three seconds into the game after it was ruled that Tennessee kick returner, Darius Reynaud, fielded the opening kickoff before the goal line and then took a knee in the endzone. The safety tied the fastest score in any game since the merger.

The Browns lost their ninth straight season opener, 23-10, at the hands of the Dolphins. Nine straight is the longest active streak in the league. The teams combined for just 67 rushing yards and the Browns were just 1-for-14 on third down. Brandon Weeden set a new career-high for pass attempts in a game with 53, but threw three interceptions and was sacked three times.

It has been a disappointing season for Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles parted ways prior to the 2010 season, but more than a year later both are struggling through a nightmare 2011 season.

On the day that the Eagles lost to the Seattle Seahawks to ensure they wouldn’t have a winning campaign, their former quarterback was released by the Minnesota Vikings after a disappointing stint as their starting quarterback.

While the struggles of McNabb are only somewhat surprising, that the Eagles have self-destructed is a huge shock.

One of the most aggressive teams in the free agent market during the offseason, the Eagles were dubiously dubbed the “Dream Team” by their new backup quarterback Vince Young.

However, after starting with an impressive 31-13 victory over the St. Louis Rams, the dream season suddenly turned sour with four straight losses.

The worst of these losses occurred on October 2nd when the San Francisco 49ers rallied from a 23-3 third quarter deficit to edge the Eagles 24-23 in front of a shocked Philadelphia faithful.

It appeared that head coach Andy Reid had righted the ship with back-to-back victories over the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, but close losses to the Chicago Bears and Arizona Cardinals were followed by a disappointing loss to the New York Giants and then the listless loss in Seattle.

With the addition of pass rusher Jason Babin and cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, defense was supposed to be the strength for the Eagles in 2011. However, through 11 games the team ranked 19th in the league in points allowed and 15th in yards allowed.

After surrendering 31 points to the Seahawks, they have now allowed 30 or more points to their opponents five times in 12 games.

The high flying offense was also supposed to be among the best in the NFL led by quarterback Michael Vick. After a break-out season in 2010, the Eagles parted ways with Kevin Kolb (who was originally expected to succeed McNabb as the Eagles franchise quarterback) and gave Vick a huge contract. Read the rest of this entry →

When it comes to the rivalry between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles, the “miracle” wins seem to always go to the Eagles such as their 27 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to knock off the Giants in 2010.

But in the second week of the 2006 season, the Giants had their own “miracle” win against the Eagles as they overcame a 17-point 4th quarter deficit to defeat the Eagles.

New York was coming off an 11-5 season in which they won the NFC East Division only to be eliminated by the Carolina Panthers 23-0 in their NFC Wild Card Game at the Meadowlands.

In that game, Giants quarterback Eli Manning was intercepted three times and threw for only 113 yards.

Coming off that poor performance, Manning needed to come back strong in the 2006 season, which was his third in the NFL.

Thankfully for Manning, he had running back Tiki Barber and wide receiver Plaxico Burress at his disposal as well as head coach Tom Coughlin, who was also heading into his third season in New York.

The Giants’ 2005 NFC East title snapped the Eagles’ four-year reign as NFC East Champions as Philadelphia seemed too affected by a Super Bowl hangover in 2005 as they went 6-10 during the season and missed the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

The Eagles and quarterback Donovan McNabb were hoping for a bounce-back season in 2006.

Philadelphia got off to a good start as they won their season opener 24-10 over the Houston Texans while the Giants dropped their opener, a 26-21 home loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

After their playoff debacle and Opening Day loss, Manning and the Giants were dire straits of a victory in Philadelphia.

The Giants got the ball to start to the game and were able to get in the end zone on the seventh play of the drive when Manning found Amani Toomer for a 37-yard touchdown to put New York ahead 7-0 just 3:25 into the game.

The Eagles answered the Giants’ touchdown with a touchdown of their own as Brian Westbrook scored on a 12-yard run to end an 11-play, 92-yard drive that tied the game at 7 midway through the first quarter. Read the rest of this entry →

Instead of facing the Washington Redskins, Donovan McNabb will instead be wearing their uniform in 2010.

It has been known for weeks that Donovan McNabb had played his last game as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, but it is quite a surprise that he will remain in the NFC East for 2010. A trade between the Eagles and Washington Redskins was finalized on Sunday that will give the Eagles the 37th pick in the second round and a third or fourth round choice in the 2011 draft.

That the Eagles would be willing to trade McNabb to a division rival seems to illustrate that the Eagles truly believe they are stronger under the guidance of fourth-year pro Kevin Kolb as in the six-time Pro Bowler McNabb.

With three high caliber quarterbacks on the roster-McNabb, Kolb and Michael Vick-the Eagles had a backlog that needed to be purged.

Originally the Eagles were shopping all three quarterbacks to see which might bring the best offer, but it quickly became clear that McNabb would be the one to go. With only one year remaining on his contract, the Eagles risked losing him for no compensation if they did keep him for one more season. Read the rest of this entry →

The Buffalo Bills blogosphere is on fire. Every armchair GM in Buffalo is frothing with angst.

What’s wrong with Buddy Nix? Why hasn’t he signed any big name free agents? Why hasn’t he leveraged his inside knowledge of the Chargers to pluck some of their best pieces to complete the Buffalo puzzle?

And, oh my God, no! Tim Tebow! What does Jim Kelly think he’s doing, recommending and romancing this guy who obviously can’t be retooled for the NFL? Good thing Kelly doesn’t have any personnel authority at One Bills Drive.

OK, all of you! Breathe!

Is anyone familiar with the expression, “Crazy like a fox?” I’m going to suggest a new expression that is the Bills translation of same. “Genius like a Nix.”

I was one of the biggest advocates for getting big names like Bill Cowher on board. I wrote an article here at ST&N and was interviewed on Buffalo radio about it.

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Vintage Athlete of the Month

In recognition of the start of football season, the Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is one of the original stars for the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots.

In many ways, Gino Cappelletti epitomized the early years of the American Football League. While the NFL was becoming more specialized and tougher to break into, the AFL provided former college stars with a new place to play and its “wild west” mentality allowed players to contribute in a wide variety of ways.